Katie - The NOCCA

The characters of New Orleans as seen from a chaotic carpool ride to NOCCA

Rush Rush Rush

“Y’all are so slow! Everyday we are always waiting for you!”

Rush Rush Rush

“Did you bring pizza?”

Rush Rush Rush

“Brooke, hold my bags.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Katie, I never understand how you get a leotard on so fast.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Oh no there is traffic on Claiborne.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Wait, I forgot to print my homework.”

Rush Rush Rush

“I think I am going to start to give those people on the side of the road cliff bars.”

Rush Rush Rush

“What time is it it?”

Rush Rush Rush

“We are going to get there right at 1:15.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Great, I lost my socks.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Why is there a jungle gym made out of trash on the side of the road?”

Rush Rush Rush

“Taylor Swift and I will be best friends, and I am going to date her brother.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Was that a lady with a boa constrictor on her back?”

Rush Rush Rush

“Why was that girl wearing a pink, feather hat?”

Rush Rush Rush

 “NO! We are behind a horse and buggy!”

Rush Rush Rush

“Look at how many people are waiting at Port of Call?”

Rush Rush Rush

“HA! That emo guy just tripped.”

Rush Rush Rush

 “I think that we have hit every red light on Esplanade.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Why are there so many people running in the middle of the day?”

Rush Rush Rush

“We are almost there.”

Rush Rush Rush

“I think this is the hipster part of town.”

Rush Rush Rush

“Move your head, I have to get my book bag.”

Rush Rush Rush

“ We just made it girls. Have a good day!”

Rush Rush Rush

Katie, age 16 

Brooke - Nighttime in New Orleans

Nights in white satin

Do not stand up to nights in white linen

Shrouded the unwelcome blanket

Of heavy humid black

Velvet air

“Laissier

Pockets of music permeate the veil

Crickets scream to keep up

Slurs of tongues dominate

Vibration of a collective sound

Language nature and art one tangible force

Throbbing through skulls

les

Shadows partner with dancers

Wiggling on the road

In the spotlight of the street lamps

Trees saturated with plastic guests

House the projection beneath their feet

bon

The monsters crawl and squirm

In the corners of the child’s mind

Protected by sandy hair and the NOPD

I’mscaredofthedark.Ihadanaccident,Pleasedon’tbemadatmedaddy.

Shrieking and stickiness

This is your mom’s job

What in God’s name is the time?

God’s day follows this evening

Temps

Down the street

Suspended twenty feet in the air

Eye level with Robert E. Lee

In the circle surrounded by steel

a woman frets

Knows she has work that must be completed

Crutch crunch cruch in her cubicle

When the sky is flooded with silver

And the hints of the painful morning

Rouler”

But for the hours of the dark

She is safe

These are the hours of

Procrastination Productivity Celebration

Like the crickets, the party goers, the parents

She is a creature of the night

Brooke, age 16

Holly - Creature of the Night

When the sun dies, the city grows brighter.

New Orleans becomes a different world.

Creatures of the night come alive.

Festivities begin.

Cab cars scurry.

Intoxicated laughter fills the air.

Music escalades for all to hear.

NOPD squad car sirens accompany jazz musicians

Full of music

Full of laughter

New Orleans is a creature of the night.

Holly, age 16

Madison - I am New Orleans

A New Orleans Birth

Amniotic fluid- the EmergenC of babies

                   

            A good roux, fried chicken, red beans, beignets

Music is supposed to up the intelligence of an unborn child

Does the trumpeter on the corner of Royal and Dumaine count?

His toothy grin merited a tip from my mother

Noises envelop my tiny, trembling body

             

            Push harder

            

            Throw me something, Mistah

Oohs Aaahs

                  

            She is beautiful.

                  

            The king’s float is coming.

My world is black and white

             

            Yet I see three colors, a beaded strand of purple, green and gold gently placed around my neck

My wails cease- I know I am home

- Madison, age 17

Diamond - I am New Orleans

“I am New Orleans”

You know growing up as a young child

I never understood what it meant to be

From New Orleans,,

I mean I knew it was

Something different, historical, traditional, & unique

About this place,

But Oh as time passed..

Sitting around waiting for that

Time of the year

It was something

That filled you with great cheer

Super Sunday, Yellow Pocahontas, Lady Buckjumpers

Come on nah tell me you not from

New Orleans

Fat Tuesday 8:00 a.m. best believe it

Was Zulu bout to roll

I mean I am New Orleans

From eating Red Beans and Rice on a

Monday and at the end of the

Week fried seafood

I am a true New Orleanian

Sitting on the River Front watching the fireworks on New Years

Walking down the streets of Canal, and

Around that Superdome home of

Your New Orleans Saints

Tell me you know what New Orleans is

There’s a lot about this city people don’t know or fail to realize

I am New Orleans by the way I

Walk and the way I talk

I am proud to be a New Orleanian

New Orleans has shaped me

To realize that

Everywhere and everyone is different

We don’t do the same things

But we enjoy and still remain

But one thing I will always

Remember is here

In New Orleans

We are a family

And I am proud to say I am a true New Orleanian

- Diamond

Claire - I am New Orleans

While in New York City during Mardi Gras break, I visited the sacred heart school.  A pattern of questions were repeatedly asked: “What’s Mardi Gras?”  “What are parades?” “You get a week off for that?”  I am New Orleans.

While on a carnival cruise, I began to notice how much flavor the food was lacking on the ship.  I wondered where all of the spicy food, and good tasting appetizers had gone.  I am New Orleans. 

I come home from school one day and find a big sack of purple, green and gold bandanas with a crown on them.  I immediately realized that this big black bag was not in fact trash, but the objects that my dad would be throwing off a moving vehicle down St. Charles Avenue in a few weeks.  I am New Orleans.

The other day when I was walking down Magazine Street and I heard jazz music, I didn’t think it was bizarre.  I am New Orleans.

Whether it's food full of flavor or Mardi Gras parades, New Orleans is home to all of these unique and spectacular attributes which makes us new Orleans.   I am New Orleans.

- Claire, age 17  

Jasmine - I am New Orleans

“I am New Orleans”

I am the ambiance of New Orleans

The beignets, the street cars,

The boats, the Mardi Gras Madness,

The art, the street mimes,

The legends, the soul,

The music, the food,

The history,

The place where jazz was born,

The French market,

The character of the city and the fact that it’s surrounded by water,

 The games in the superdome,

Cheering for the saints, the spooky swamps,

The ghosts around the town,

The charming people you cannot match anywhere,

I am New Orleans,

The city that is not like no other

- Jasmine, age 16

Nia - I am New Orleans

I am New Orleans…

I am the streetcar – NOT the trolley – that rolls down that grand old avenue.

You know, the one called St. Charles - the avenue that is home to everything from grand old mansions to dingy little hole-in-the-wall shops.  

I am New Orleans…

I am the child who knew how to pronounce Tchoupitoulas before I could read.

I am the girl who stands in the same “family spot” on the “neutral ground” – NOT the median – every year to watch the royalty of Mardi Gras parade by to the light of second-lining flambeau carriers.

I am the young woman who knows how to respond when someone asks

“How’s ya Mama and ‘em?”

I am New Orleans…

I am Catholic schools - all girls and all boys - separate but still somehow connected.

I am New Orleans…

I am snowballs – NOT snow cones – on a hot summer day.

I am po-boys – DRESSED – from the corner store.

I am fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, stuffed shrimp, shrimp etouffee.

I am crawfish – NOT crayfish – wrapped in newspaper and ready to eat.

I am New Orleans…

I am the French Quarter’s beautiful mix of people and places. 

I am Café DuMonde, Café Au Lait, and Café Maspero.

I am beignets – NOT doughnuts – served with hot chocolate at a table that has not been cleared.

I am New Orleans…

I am Jazz Fest – music, food, and culture – rain or shine.

I am New Orleans…

I am second line parades and brass bands that roll through the streets to celebrate life and death.

I am a Who Dat – a Saints fan - and a proud member of the “Who Dat Nation.”

I am New Orleans…

I am a witness to crime and pain; a victim of broken levees and flood waters.

I am New Orleans…

I am a dreamer, a rebuilder, a SURVIVOR. 

I am New Orleans…

I am a product of its variety and its diversity!

I am this great city.

It has shaped me and made me who I am.

I am New Orleans…

The waters of the Mighty Mississippi flow through my veins.

The sounds Jazz and Blues are my lullabies.

I am New Orleans.

Nia, age 16

Melissa - I am New Orleans

I am New Orleans;

I am that New Orleans soul,

That bass turned down low

Playing that Old Time Rock and Roll

I am dancing with you

I am New Orleans

I am that rhythm

That 12-bar blues

I am Mr. Johnny R. Cash

I am Crosby

I am New Orleans

I am Stills

I am Nash

I am a magnoila tree, playing a guitar of steel

I am muggy weather, muddy waters

I am porch steps and neighborhood daughters

I am New Orleans

What kill others makes me stronger

“I ain’t no millionaire’s son.”

“I ain’t no fortunate one.”

Don’t need to tell me what to do

Don’t have to prove myself to you

I am New Orleans

I am New Orleans

I don’t need to wear no shoes

I am morning coffee

Channel 6 news

I am Mr. Drew Christopher Brees

I am New Orleans

Black and gold fleur de lis

Sippin’ lemon iced tea

“Let it be, oh, let it be.”

I am cracked pavement

On these city streets

I am New Orleans

Esplanade to Magazine

I am dead, gratefully

Can’t stop this voodoo queen

Rolling in them Georgia peaches

I am New Orleans

I am New Orleans

I am a banjo-picking

Fingerlickin’ good

Popeye’s chicken,

Mashed potatoes,

biscuit eating

Hindu-Christian

Mardi Gras queen,

I am New Orleans. 

Melissa, age 16

Kristen - I am New Orleans

When asked what experience has shaped me into the young New Orleanian I am today, I would have to credit my parents. My mom was raised here and had been around all the traditional New Orleans activities. After meeting my dad and incorporating him into the New Orleans lifestyle, my parents raised five kids in the heart of New Orleans. My parents have taught me what it means to be a New Orleanian. Yes, Mardi Gras, Jazz fest and the Saints are all vital parts of New Orleans, but what makes me a young New Orleanian are the attributes I have picked up over the years. A young New Orleanian has to enforce “Southern hospitality.” Southern hospitality is a term to define the warm and welcoming attitude towards visitors, whether that is in our literal home or the South in general. This trait will stay with me as I grow older; having southern hospitality makes someone more approachable and lovable (definite traits I want to possess).  Another factor that makes someone a New Orleanian is having spirit, being enthusiastic about everything. An example would be when the Saints won the Super Bowl. Everyone in the city united downtown to celebrate in their honor. I believe that this kind of event only happens in New Orleans. Everyone shared a common bond that formed even stronger relationships and everyone was comfortable with one another. I walked down the streets screaming “WHO DAT!” and it was totally normal; I got the same response in return. This leads me to the next factor. Living in New Orleans allows people to be more acceptable of different cultures. Everyone living in New Orleans has a unique style that allows people to open their minds to new things. This trait also allows people to express themselves in different ways and feel comfortable doing so because everyone is extremely accepting.  Each of these different styles shape New Orleans into the remarkable place it is today. I can honestly say I would never want to be anything other than a young New Orleanian. 
- Kristen, age 16

Janae - I am New Orleans

I was born the Rebirth Band of Tremé

I gave New Orleans a new sunshine. A new Day

The Steamboats rolling down the Mississippi blew a revived new whistle embracing me into a new place i called home

I knew from that moment, I would never be alone

Im like the French Quarters, I have a different quality and an exquisite style

I make your every trip worthwhile

The diverse culture made me who I am today

Spicy as Tabasco and as sweet as a fluffy Beignet.

Katrina gave this city a new beginning in 05'

A new chance. Another way to thrive.

Coming back home to jazz singers and second lines

Celebrating the New City, that I once again called mine.

I am the party on Bourbon when I walk into your presence 

I am the connection of the Crescent. I am a true blessing.

Nothing else can compare to me. I am more than what the eye meets.

I am more than what the mind can imagine. I am a Saint.

HI, Im New Orleans

- Janae, age 14

Ashley - I am New Orleans

In the car, pressing my face against the window,

Noticing the things I have to leave behind for now.

The old man who plays his saxophone on his porch, Good bye New Orleans.

The famous Praline shop in the city, Good bye New Orleans.

Waving at the sweet girls jumping rope singing their riddles, Good bye New Orleans.

Passing up the best place in the city for hot spicy crawfish, Good bye New Orleans.

Drifting away from where the finest cook lives, my grandmother, making those hot red beans every 

Monday, Good bye New Orleans;

Desiring a fresh hot sausage po-boy from those who have the best, Good bye New Orleans.

Imagining all the Gumbo I will miss out on, Good bye New Orleans.

Wishing I’ll be the first to catch the most beads on Mardi Gras day, Good bye New Orleans.

Passing through the fine French Quarters, Good bye New Orleans.

As I removed my face from the glass, knowing they’ll be no place like home.

Good bye New Orleans.

- Ashley

Dasia - I am New Orleans

I am the Big Easy, the city that never sleeps,

I am the creamy, seasoned, homemade red beans.

I am the electric streetcars that power on St. Charles,

I am the greatest city of them all.

I am the Mardi Gras parades, the Zulu balls,

I am the politics, City Hall.

I am the music, Zydeco and even Jazz,

Keep up the rhythm. Some are slow; some are fast.

I am the city with freshly baked King Cakes,

Randazzo’s Bakery is where they are baked.

I am the city that loves to party,

New Orleans is never dead, it’s the life of the party.

I am the city whom was affected by Hurricane Katrina,

She tried to stop us, but nothing could come in between us.

We held the faith, and remembered our dreams.

God promised us everything would be alright if only we believed.

- Dasia, age 15

Alexis - I am New Orleans

Rushing winds, furious rain drop.

Helpless children, hungry people.

Katrina, the horror of New Orleans.

 I am soul.

I am jazz.

I am love.

 I am sprit.

 I am New Orleans.

- Alexis, age 16

Sam - I am New Orleans

New Orleans is knowing your neighbor. It’s being able to knock on a door and ask for some Café Du Monde coffee in that strange yellow package.  It’s knowing that your neighbor isn’t just the person who lives right next door but every person you encounter in this strange city. New Orleans is your eighty six year old aunt. It’s being able to call her and find out how life is down in the Quarter. It’s knowing about how she walked out on her stoop to grab the paper, but instead came upon a man peeing in public. New Orleans is going to a beautiful historic building five days out of the week. It’s being able to go to an institution that doesn’t necessarily look like an institution. New Orleans is having a line of royalty in your family without being British. It’s being able to wear a crown and fancy dress and have fun with loved ones. All of these things have made me who I am, and all of these things are truly New Orleans.

Sam, age 17

Courtney - I am New Orleans

I think that New Orleans is the best city in the world. When I was thinking about what makes New Orleans great, I realized that no one aspect of New Orleans has shaped me. Everything great is put together into one experience, all creating the experience of New Orleans. I realized this when my exchange student came from Chile. I knew I would have to take her to do everything that is “typical” to New Orleans such as the French Quarter, poboys, beignets, music festivals, and Mardi Gras parades. New Orleans is so unique, and I realized that in this city, there are so many occasions and things that no other city has. New Orleans has a spirit that shows through our culture, music, food, and most importantly, our people. Even after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the city came back better and stronger than ever. One of my favorite sayings came after this, 504ever. This saying assured New Orleanians that the city would recover and come back. As we went to experience each characteristically New Orleans feature, I realized that joy of New Orleans is not many different experiences, but everything in one. Every aspect from the Saints and Who Dat to Hurricane Katrina and the Swamp blend together to create a truly memorable cultural experience. Everything that has occurred in my life in New Orleans has made me who I am today. So many memories and emotions came to me when thinking about my life and writing on this topic. Not one part of New Orleans has shaped me into who I am, but everything and every experience in this city. I am New Orleans because of every experience, person, place, and culture.

Courtney, age 17

Mae - I am New Orleans

What does one think of when they think of New Orleans? Mardi Gras? Crazy parties? The French Quarter? Well the first thing I think of is diversity. Everyone in New Orleans is different and unique, and I love New Orleans for that. We have our high class snobs, our wannabe ghetto Westbankers, our laid back suburbians, our Cajuns, our eccentric French Quarter residents, and the list could go on and on. Yes, New Orleans is very diverse like many other cities, but what makes New Orleans different is the fact that we all work together in perfect harmony. Every type of person respects the other for being who they are. Everyone loves the diversity. We love the fact that during Mardi Gras, we can look out into the crowd and see so many different kinds of people all having a good time together and enjoying each other’s company. New Orleans is one of a kind.

What I believe makes me so New Orleans is how my life is so diverse. I go to a school that is in the heart of uptown and experience many ”uptown” activities, such as eating at Kyoto as a special treat, riding the streetcar to your nearest destination, or the daily Pinkberry visits. I also get to experience something very unique to New Orleans: being a maid in a parade. I am on a dance team for Jesuit High School and get to show my inner “Westbank” and get to act cheesy for a couple of hours a day. My family owns a camp in the middle of the swamps of Louisiana. I get to experience the life out on the bayou, enjoying the abundant nature that Louisiana supplies. I love how I can go duck hunting in the early morning on the bayou, dance practice at noon, and a formal dinner at the Windsor Court that same night. No other city in the world could let an individual be so diverse. I am an uptown girl. I am a cheesy Westbanker. I am a bayou-loving redneck. I am a royal maid in Babylon. I am unique. I am different. I am diverse. I am New Orleans.

Mae, age 17

Darby - I am New Orleans

As a young New Orleanian, I have learned to appreciate moments but also live life.  Here, unlike in any other city in America, I was exposed to things I never thought someone at the age of 16 would experience.  One of my favorite memories that happened somewhat recently would probably have to be Superbowl Sunday last year when the Saints brought New Orleans their first championship.  The reason this has to be one of my favorite memories is because of the atmosphere of that day as well as the fact that it didn’t matter that you didn’t know most of the people you high-fived or hugged.

For Superbowl Sunday, I spent my entire day in the French Quarter, not getting home until about 3 in the morning.  My cousins had gotten a hotel room, and we were about a block off of Bourbon Street.  From the hotel, one could hear the excitement coming from Bourbon, whether it was about the fact that the Saints had gotten to the Superbowl or the fact that they had just WON the Superbowl.  When my mom and I decided that we were going to walk Bourbon, we got there and could barely move.  Anywhere else in the country I would have been annoyed but in New Orleans and on this day, it was exactly how it was supposed to be. 

Later that night, we all got back to the hotel for the game, where I was reminded just how special the city of New Orleans really is.  Every time the Saints put points on the board and every time the defense or offense made a phenomenal play, I found myself hugging a random person in the room out of pure joy.  None of us there could believe what we were witnessing.  We couldn’t believe that it was the New Orleans Saints who had finally given us, the city, a Superbowl. 
Darby, age 16

Alli - I am New Orleans

"WEST SIDEEE"- normally when people think of this term, they think of the west coast. But we are not talking about the Californians. We are talking about the West Bank.  The West Bank, also known as the Best Bank, is an area on the outskirts of the Greater New Orleans area. Although I was born on the East Bank, when I was about 3 my parents moved to the Best Bank because of my Dad’s job. The West Bank has had a special place in my heart because of its unique qualities and contradicting stereotypes. Whenever people in New Orleans or Metairie hear the mention of the West Bank, they automatically assume guys that mimic Lil Wayne, and girls that wear bump-its and still take cheesy Myspace pictures. While this is pretty accurate, not everyone is like this. The people that are mainly like this grew up on the West Bank and go to school there. I, for example, only went to school on the West Bank up until middle school. Going to school on the East Bank is what probably saved me from becoming a bump-it booty short wearing type of girl.

“The West Bank scares me…” is one of the responses I got from someone when I told them that I live there. Sure the West Bank is known for a lot of crime and some parts of it can seem sketchy, but really there is nothing to be afraid of. Many people don’t go to the West Bank because they consider it to be too “far away.” Without traffic, it takes me about 25 minutes to get to school in the morning. I just guess 25 minutes to some people seems like 5 hours. I like to flaunt my West Bank pride to everyone who is not from here. The West Bank is the Best Bank. I am West Bank and I am New Orleans.

- Alli, age 16

Hannah - I am New Orleans

“Hannah, I have something important to tell you.”

…I’m getting a car? We’re going on a trip? My cousins are coming in town?... Thing after thing ran through my mind. I just couldn’t figure out what was so important! No, I wasn’t getting car and we weren't going on a trip. My cousins weren’t coming in town, but they would be for whatever this surprise was. My dad had me on this one. I had absolutely no idea what it could be.

“Hannah, you are going to be queen of Thoth.”

I don’t think that hearing any other nine words could have made me any happier than these nine words did. My favorite Mardi Gras parade, the one that I had been a part of for my entire life, had chosen me, Hannah McIntyre, to be their queen when I was born. Mardi Gras is New Orleans. So being a part of Mardi Gras in this way, made me New Orleans. Since Thoth has always been a part of my family, my family was New Orleans. Since my sister has been born, at every Thoth function we attend we are introduced as “the queen in 2012 and the queen of 2028.” Because I am Mardi Gras, I am New Orleans.

Hannah, age 17

Matty - I am New Orleans

There is this thing that the seats on street cars do. They can slide back and forth to create four seats instead of two, to make one out of many.

At night, the air smells like Confederate jasmine and magnolia, flowers that make you drunk with nostalgia.

There is a tune heard from October till June, Voodoo, Jazz fest, and finally that ring of the graduation bells in your graduation dress with your graduation crown.

There’s Downtown, and Uptown, in the park, in the clubs, on the street, inside the float, and on top of the levee--there is anywhere and everywhere for someone to be.

There are the characters who tell you their stories, who greet you for a hot pastrami sandwich on lower magazine street at 7am and there is the pill-popping tattooed gentle giant who gives you strawberry lemonade at your favorite Mexican restaurant. There is the waiter who works every night, and on busy nights his girlfriend works with him, just so they can be together. There is the po’ boy shop that has always called out their customers names over a creaky loud speaker, even if their only customer was the president. There is the homeless guy who stands in front of Jackson Square cathedral and sings Amazing Grace and when your coin drops in his bucket he thanks “you my dear sister.” There are the fighters who stand up against those (oil) companies that think we are just backwater country bumpkins, oh how they showed them. There are the French, the Spanish, the people who are at least 1/3 angel and 2/3 devil and frequently tour the streets. There are the chefs and the firefighters who ring 6 alarms. There are the ghosts who thought New Orleans was better than heaven, so they stayed. There are the catholic school girls who Can-Can at Christmas in their lovely plaid skirts. All of those things make me New Orleans. All of those things are things I think are unique and that honestly, if you don't live here you won't understand why those things are sacred. I am New Orleans because without those characters and without those places I would be a shell.

I am New Orleans because the Mississippi River flows in my veins, and I can only hear what the brass section plays. I only speak in hymns, and curses, and with cheer (WHO DAT!). I am New Orleans because I know those people and those places, those endless nights with endless faces. I am New Orleans because New Orleans found me. Sought me out. Welcomed me home.

Matty, age 16

Lillie - I am New Orleans

New Orleans has a certain feel to it; one that can’t be found anywhere else. I would be lying if I said the air was nice and crisp, complemented by the sun gently smiling down on you, because that’s not real, and if nothing else, New Orleans is real. The air here isn’t nice and crisp, but rather humid, and for the most part, miserable. The sun is brutal and summer is nearly unbearable without air-conditioning and at least a few pounds of snow balls. Heat stroke is not uncommon because of the summer days filled with either sunbeams or hurricanes in rotation, but it’s still hard to resist going out for a bike ride, even when you know you’ll be sweating within seconds. Growing up here, I have learned that the “hard” way, but I still think it’s worth the trouble to see the oaks bloom followed by the Japanese magnolias, and even sometimes the azaleas in the dead of winter. 
  
New Orleans is so indescribable because, in truth, it is such a distinctive and bizarre place that couldn’t be altered, not even by a corrupt government or increasing hipster population. New Orleans has shaped me more than I could ever describe on paper because I feel that I am a part of New Orleans and it is a part of me. I see that as something that could never be taken away from me, like an inherent or natural right that I will forever possess. Although city residents actually live in Louisiana, you would never know when surrounded by the New Orleans vibe. Regardless of racial, sexual, cultural or meteorological obstructions, New Orleans has agelessly stayed as cool as a cucumber.

New Orleans is ageless, although many floorboards creak in disagreement. I see my city as being ceaselessly active. New Orleans is alive in every sense of the word; awake at all hours with lights flashing, drinks sloshing and inhabitants carousing. New Orleans is as diverse as the adjectives chosen to depict it: easy, mysterious, rich without being wealthy. It cannot be embodied into one description or contained into one interpretation, in the same way that the inhabitants cannot be all jumbled into one. In the end, we are all true New Orleanians, and we even made up the word to tell the world exactly who we are.  

Lillie, age 16

Lizzie - I am New Orleans

“THEY DID IT! THE SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!” As I heard these words from the television screen, I couldn’t help but join my fellow peers in screaming, jumping for joy, and dancing in the streets. As the whole nation knows, the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV for the first time in their entire 45 years of existence. What the whole nation doesn’t know is how happy all the people of New Orleans were. As we won, the entire city was in the streets, crying, hugging, and celebrating the win. I remember that night perfectly, and how when I walked out onto the streets with my friends, everyone was just dancing and cheering. As we walked outside, we ran to one of the local bars across the street from my friend’s house. Everyone who was there was outside hugging each other, cheering that the Saints had won. As cars came down the streets, one would hear honking horns, people chanting the famous phrase, “Who Dat?!,” and singing the famous Saints anthem, “Halftime,” by the Ying Yang Twins. Trying to get around the city was nearly impossible, for there was literally bumper to bumper traffic. There was no moving, but no one even cared. All of the sudden, it didn’t matter who anyone of us was anymore. It wasn’t just a win for the Saints; it was a win for the whole city. It gave everyone hope that no matter how many times people say that you can’t do it, with a lot of hard work and effort, anything is possible. For years, the Saints had been called “The Aints,” and that night, we proved to the country that we could go for the gold, and win it all. The victory of the Saints wasn’t just about winning the Super bowl; it was about bringing the city together. I’m not sure how many people I hugged that night, or who I hugged, necessarily, but it was one of the greatest nights of my life. I’m so glad that I got to be a part of that experience, and it is one that I will never forget.

The reason why this makes me New Orleans is not because of the Saints winning the Super Bowl, but it is because of the experience I had with the city. In no other city would random strangers be hugging each other, or even waving and saying hello to each other on a daily basis, just to put a smile on someone’s face. As the Saints won, I couldn’t help but feel so connected with everyone in the city, even with complete strangers. It was as if the fact that we didn’t even know each other didn’t matter. That night, we all became one as a city. Experiences like that is part of the reason why New Orleans is so unique and special, and it is one that makes me proud to say I am from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Lizzie, age 16

Amy - I am New Orleans

Several summers ago, a volunteer group from Arizona came in town to help rebuild after Katrina. When we met them we tried to tell them about everything deemed perfectly normal in New Orleans that might seem utterly preposterous in the minds to a foreigner (someone who lives more than 40 minutes from downtown or uptown New Orleans.) Of course, as normal tourists ask, someone in the group from Arizona asked about Mardi Gras, and to us, who can fully explain the extent of Mardi Gras without mentioning King Cake?

 "King cake: a round-ish, braided dough cake that is iced and can sometimes have colored sprinkles or filling on them. Kind of like a better cinnamon roll. After it's served, whoever gets the baby will bring the next king cake."
"Wait. Whoever gets what?"
"The baby of course. There's one hidden in every king cake."
"You guys put BABIES in your cake!? What kind of crazy city is this!?"

This illuminated half-scared, half-confused response to our simple New Orleanian tradition made me stop and truly realize how unique the traditions and customs of New Orleans really are. New Orleans is the only place where it is perfectly normal to boil more than 40 pounds of crawfish (not crayfish) at a time, where Mardi Gras is not the Gay and Lesbian Parade like it is in Sydney (as my Australian cousins informed me), where the new hip nutria fur fashion can make the front page of the Living section, and yes, we hide small babies in our cakes.

Only recently were the true originality and outlandish ways of the New Orleanian world reassured when I went to Caesar ball to watch one of my close friends who was a maid. As another friend and I waited in the giant ballroom where all of the maids were preparing to don their 60 pound feathery, sparkly backdrops that attached to their waists, I realized that I had become accustomed to certain kinds of events that to others might seem strange.

Me: "Oh hey! Someone dressed up like Marylyn Monroe! (short pause) Oh wait. That's an old man… (another pause) Let's go take a picture with him!!!"
Friend: "Sure. I'll just watch and take the picture."

It seems to me now that in New Orleans, it is perfectly normal to dress up in public, and it is even more normal for hundreds of straight men to put on black and gold dresses and parade down the French Quarter in honor of a deceased radio announcer who promised to dress like a woman in public if the Saints made it to the Super Bowl. But of course, this mini-parade was most definitely not the strangest occurrence in New Orleans after the Saints won the Super Bowl. To tell tourists that people were running, jumping, and screaming "WHO DAT!?!" in the middle of traffic only to get an even louder group response of, "WE DAT!" from unknown distant strangers would be an understatement. This type of action was the complete required norm for living in a city where the action never sleeps.

Sure, it takes less than 35 minutes to get from Kenner to the West Bank without traffic but, New Orleanians scoff at the showy volcanoes, Eiffel towers, casinos, and simply say, “Eh, who needs Vegas anyways?” If it is one thing that being in New Orleans has taught me, it is that it is our differences from the rest of the world are what brings New Orleans together as a family.

Amy, age 16

Brooke - I am New Orleans

I was born in the land of deep fried seafood platters, spicy jambalaya, gumbo, red beans with rice, and praline bacon; where the spices have burned away the harsh R’s and TH’s in the authentic Cajun tongue. I live in a geographical danger zone that could easily flood in the months from June to November. But, I also live on a parade route where, from late February to early March, a person’s main concern is catching a coconut in a Zulu parade. We don’t bury our dead; we dance with them, and then, let them slumber forever in small white houses shrouded in oak trees and Spanish moss. I live in a city where it is unlikely to find a fourth grader who can spell jealous, but where every literate person can whip out T-C-H-O-U-P-I-T-O-U-L-A-S flawlessly. In New Orleans we are a combination of the weird, the impractical, and the miraculous. We are our own culture; our own variation of Tony Cacher’s seasoning.

In certain instances, being a New Orleanian means something similar to dragging around a weird relative that seems okay at home, but who is bizarre out of context. As I get further and further away from my beloved 504 area code, I not only get a spike in telephone bills, but fellow Americans look at me with skepticism when I tell them of my origins. I can tell they are thinking “Oh yeah crazy Uncle New Orleans…The one that mixes up words and calls counties, parishes. He’s the one that doesn’t know how to run a public school system and who takes an extra holiday during March because he likes to pretend he is French. Doesn’t he live underwater with a bunch of murderers and alligators? Lucky for him, Miss Issippi next door has a reputation that outranks him for scandals.”

I do not care. I am my weird Uncle New Orleans. He isn’t some ball and chain I take with me. New Orleans has shaped me into a person who believes in culture as a huge system of telepathy rather than a categorization in a history textbook. Because I am from New Orleans, “WHO DAT” makes my pulse jump and talking about 2005 makes me grind my teeth, because this way of life requires a built in set of reflexes. Because I am from New Orleans, I can be whoever I want to be and still subconsciously be a part of a huge family that will adopt all people regardless of shape, size, age, or color, (unless of course they are a fan of the Atlanta Falcons). Because I am from New Orleans, I am not ashamed of my individual, weird family members or personal quirks. I have learned that being different is better than normalcy any day, and I embrace it.

- Brooke, age 16

Ruthie - I am New Orleans

Walking the streetcar tracks feels like a step between two worlds. Balancing on the track like I did when I was six and took gymnastics, step by step, I shift my weight toe heel toe heel like that dance we learned in sixth grade (toe heel toe heel rock step), but now I am sixteen, and sixth grade and six-years-old isn’t that far behind me but it feels like I’m nearing a point where I should edge my place into the world.

Anonymity is impossible here; all the schools are connected, and my mother is always calling out to someone whenever we walk down the street. When I was younger there was always someone watching; the city was my nanny, and crime stats and politicians were just words in the newspapers I made paper mache hearts out of. New Orleans makes me claustrophobic. Pinched down into words, I guess I look pretty bleak, I haven’t done much to help out after Katrina and I’m not exactly scooping oil out of the Gulf, and this city is already filled with so many heroes, so many names to live up to, musicians, artists, writers, politicians, war heroes and civil rights activists, it’s scary walking this streetcar track because of the options it presents. New Orleans is filled with so many more opportunities than every other city, even the dust it is made of seems to call at me to live up to my name and my city. The fine dirt that laces the sidewalks. The sand kicked up by hundreds of feet at Jazz fest. The mud rising over the heel of my foot as I stand barefoot in Audubon Park. The slick grime in between the cobblestones on St Joseph’s street downtown. The dry crusted dirt on Mardi Gras beads left on the streets for three days. The specks that cover the lens of a tourist’s camera. Stained glass windows with spider web dust and dirt lace lines. All made of the same stuff coating the same city like a glaze; it is a part of the whole.

Growing up in New Orleans is standing at the end of the streetcar tracks, looking forward and seeing a million directions to go in, and I become New Orleans in my choice.




- Ruthie, age 16

Katie - I am New Orleans

New Orleans. It is a horrible place filled with crime, despair, and no opportunities. It would never be a place where I would want to go to college, start a family, or begin a successful career. Somewhere like Boston, North Carolina, or Chicago would be much more enriched with opportunities for success in life. These past few sentences are a summary of my thoughts the summer after freshmen year. The last few weeks of that May were particularly hard and emotional, and I was ready to pack my bags and say goodbye to New Orleans.  So, that is exactly what I did. I packed my bags and escaped from my “NOLA” life ready to forget everything involving New Orleans, and it is because of this that I am New Orleans.

My place of escape was Washington D.C. I went there for a camp at Georgetown University, and I was fascinated with the idea that no one knew who I was or know what my life was like. I could be anyone I wanted to be. However, it wasn’t hard for people to figure out where I was from.

Everyone made fun of me for multiple reasons: I was the old one that said “y’all” instead of “guys”, I got obnoxiously excited every time someone mentioned the Super bowl, and I listened to nothing but “Stand Up and Get Crunk”. Everyone complained about D.C’s warm temperature and humidity, when I simply thought that it was perfect condition for a light jacket. The city was filled with equally high concrete buildings, clean streets, and everyone dressed in business attire. I was used to Mardi Gras beads left on trees, trash on the roads, squished together houses, and everyone dressed in a Saints shirt and jeans. I began to feel overwhelmed; everything looked perfect. There were no chipped pieces of paint on buildings, unique iron work on houses, bands and painters in the street, and there was no waving to a random person on the sidewalk just because you decided you wanted to be nice today. It was concrete and grey. I began to long for the city that I worked so hard to get away from.

With the craving of Popeye’s fried chicken making my mouth water, I flew home after a month in D.C. Once I got back home, I realized that New Orleans is a lot more than I thought. New Orleans wasn’t the thing holding be back, but it was the thing that was pushing me forward. New Orleans makes me unique, and the daily experiences I have had here make me a stronger person. I can’t try to run away from New Orleans because it is a part of me, but it is not worth running away from. Where ever life takes me, I will always be a New Orleanian.

- Katie, age 16